Weighing-hopper.



No. 761,515. PATENTED MAY 31, 1904 E. W. LINDQUIST.

WBIGHING HOPPER.

APPLICATION rum) mm: 29. 1903.

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No. 761,515. PATENTED MAY 31, 1904.

- E. w. LINDQUIST.

WEIGHING HOPPER.

APPLIOATION I'ILBD.JUNE 29. 1903.

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- UNITED STATES Patented May 31, 1904.

PATENT 7 Opt on.-

EDWARD WILLIAM LINDomsT, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssicNon TO RALPH BAGGALEY, or .rITrsBURe, PENNSYLVANIA.

- 'WEIGHlNG-HOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters lPatent No. 761 ,515, dated May 31, 1904.

Original application filed March 24, 1903, Serial No. 149,331. Divided and this application filed June 29, 1903. Serial No. 163,524.

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To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD WILLIAM LIND- QUIST, of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented a new and useful Weighing-Hopper, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section.

In order to secure the best results in the operation of copper-smelting furnaces, it is necessary that the charge should be supplied to the furnace slowly and evenly mixed or evenly stratified. Too rapid charging is apt to chill the furnace and cause it to work irregularly, and if large amounts are added at a time the shock of the falling material is severe and is apt to cause injury to the furnace structure and pack the charge in the furnace. Many attempts have been made to provide such furnaces with charging-machines; but, so far as I am aware, these machines have not given satisfactory results, and the method ordinarily employed has continued to be the slow and expensive operation of feedingthe charge by hand a shovelful at a time. Such work is laborious and very expensive, and as it depends upon the intelligence of the workmen it is often imperfect and produces irregular working of the furnace. My invention overcomes these defects and provides a weighing-hopper which is simple in its construction and will operate reliably and with certainty, so that a more efficient distribution of the charge is secured and the cost of labor is very materially reduced.

The invention is of especial importance when used with furnaces which smelt rapidly and require a large supply of ore and flux.

In my application, Serial No. 149,331, filed March 24, 1903, of which this application is a division, I show my present invention in combination with charging apparatus of improved construction; but it is capable of use in connection with other charging apparatus.

In Figs. 1 and 2 I show a bin 2, having a gate 2, from which materials of the furnace charge are delivered upon aconveyer 3, composed, preferably, of an endless belt. 1 In front of the bin is a Weighing-hopper 4', supported upon the beams 5 of weighing-scales 6, so that a measured quantity of material may be received in the hopper and thence discharged upon the conveyer 3, which runs beneath the spout of the hopper, the hopper for this purpose being fitted with a gate 7 In practice the person in charge of the furnace, knowing the desired proportions of ore, flux, or coke contained in the hopper, sets the scales so that it will balance at the weight proper for the particular material contained in the bin, and the workman having delivered such weight into the hopper opens the gate 7 and causes the material to discharge upon the conveyer. It is desirable that this weighing of the charge should be automatic, not only because labor can thus be saved, but also because the weighing operation can thus be conducted secretly and the components of the charge not disclosed to others than the person concerned in the management of the furnace. For this purpose I prefer to inclose the beam of the scales in a box 8 and to provide it with a circuit-closer 9, controlling an electric circuit 10, in which is included a generator 11 and a magnet 12, preferably a solenoid-magnet, the armature of which is connected by a rod 13 to a lever 14, which in turn is connected to and is adapted to operate the gate 2 of the bin. The gate is opened by hand through the lever 14, and the material then flows from the bin into the hopper 4, and when sufiicient material has collected therein 'to balance the scalesthe circuit is closed at 9 and the magnet 12 is energized and, acting on the lever 14, raises the gate 2 and automatically closes the same, so as to cut off the discharge of material from the bin. The operator then opens the gate 7 p and causes the material to discharge upon the conveyer. It is desirable that the gate 2 should close by an upward movement, since in that way clogging of the gate by lumps of the material is prevented. The lever 14 is provided with a counterweight, as shown in Fig. 1, which substantially balances the gate 2, but is not of sufiicient weight to close it without the aid of the magnet 12, and the magnet 12 and its armature are of sufiicient length to permit opening of the gate without withdrawing the armature from the influence of the magnet.

If desired, the automatic operation above described may be effected otherwise than by electrical meansfor example, by a compressed-air cylinder or like devices.

Within the scope of my invention as defined in the claims the device may be modified in various Ways, since What I claim is 1. The combination of a Weighing-hopper supported by scales, a bin having a passage through which material is discharged into the hopper, an upwardly-closing, slide-gate for said passage, means for counterbalancing said gate, electrically-operated means in a circuit controlled by the scale-beam and adapted to directly lift the gate automatically, and handoperated means for opening the gate; substantially as described.

2. The combination of a weighing-hopper supported by scales, a receptacle having an aperture through which material is discharged into said hopper, an upwardly-sliding gate for closing said aperture, means for counterbalancing the gate, electromagnetic means in a circuit controlled by the scale-beam and adapted to directly lift the gate automatically, and hand-operated means for lowering the gate and readjusting the gate-lifting device; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

EDWARD WILLIAM LINDQUIST. 

